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WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg recently revealed that his first loss in a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) ring was in a dark match before his TV debut.
The former Universal Champion is most famous for his iconic 173-match winning streak in WCW between 1997-98. The streak saw him win the promotion's United States and World Heavyweight Championships. It ended at Starrcade 1998 when he lost his World Championship to nWo's Kevin Nash due to a distraction from Scott Hall.
Like any other talent making their way to TV, the Hall of Famer wrestled in several dark matches leading up to his debut on the September 22, 1997 episode of WCW Nitro. A dark match is performed in front of a television audience but is not broadcast.
In a recent appearance on WWE's The Bump, Goldberg revealed that one of these matches saw his first actual defeat in WCW, even before his TV debut.
"I found a couple of those dark matches on a video cassette, something like that. I actually have documentation of actually my first loss that was never on television," he said. [20:00 to 20:17]
The 55-year old went on to say that he will "pull those out of the vault someday."
Sleuthing around the depths of cagematch.com tells us that the former World Heavyweight Champion's first loss came in a dark match in WCW Saturday Night tapings on July 8, 1997 against lesser-known wrestler Chad Fortune.
Fortune, like Goldberg, was a former American Football player and would ultimately make his career in Monster Trucks.
"Absolutely horrible" - Goldberg discusses his earliest wrestling matches
Goldberg recently commented on his earliest wrestling matches and how they were "horrible."
After his NFL career ended due to an injury in 1995, the Oklahoma native decided professional wrestling was the way to go. After a year of training in WCW's Power Plant facility (similar to WWE's Performance Center), he wrestled his earliest matches in June/July 1997. This was before his televised debut in September.
Speaking on WWE's The Bump, the Hall of Famer described watching back those dark and house show matches.
"It's definitely a sight to behold. The backhand spring and the sidekick I gave to Dave Taylor, absolutely horrible. The Jackhammer I gave Sarge (Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker), not my best by any stretch of imagination. Looking back, it was amazing how green I was when I started, and how green I am still." [20:29 to 20:50]
Goldberg has always relied on his presentation and intensity in the ring, and not on his technical abilities. This is what he continues to do today, 25 years down the line.
Please credit "WWE's The Bump"" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.
